Saint-Raphaël

I can not explain what it is, but somehow there is something romantic in the atmosphere of Saint-Raphaël. I went there a beautiful morning in December to see my friend Gaspard. It was just a couple of days before Christmas, but the sky was bright and the sun was shining. Gaspard met me at the train station of Saint-Raphaël, and we took a stroll to the city center while catching up. We had not seen each other since August, so we sure had a lot to talk about!

Saint-Raphaël is a small town, situated in the eastern part of the Var department in the region of Provence - Alpes - Côte d'Azur. The commune has about 35 000 inhabitants, and it has come to merge with the neighboring town of Fréjus. I went there by train from Cannes, which is both easy and comfortable. Trains depart from Cannes train station once every half hour, and the train ride takes approximately 30 minutes. If you read a book or listen to music those 30 minutes will pass in the blink of an eye!

Gaspard and I went to the port where we sat down in a cafe with outdoor seating to have something to drink. The port of Saint-Raphaël was just blissful. I felt a light sea breeze on my face, and the deep blue water was glittering. I had a coke light and Gaspard had a normal coke, and we discussed the potential end of the world that would take place within a few days according to the ancient Mayan calendar. Gaspard did not believe in it at all, but I was still a little bit worried (luckily it obviously did not happen since I am sitting here, writing this in retrospect). As I was facing the sun I discovered with joy that you needed sunglasses, and I immediately put on mines.

After this pleasant moment in the sun we continued our promenade, this time we were on our way to Gaspard's place. He had just moved to a new apartment, about 10 minutes from the port. He was really thrilled to show it to me, and was I even more thrilled to see it. Finally there I was not disappointed, the apartment was really nice. It was small, but light, fresh and tidy. Since Gaspard is kind of an art lover, the walls were decorated with divine paintings of different places on the French Riviera, which he cherishes almost as much as I do!